Two years ago, a friend and I were doing some crazy brainstorming.
“What would it take to make $10,000 in the next 10 minutes?”
Seemingly ridiculous questions like these would force my thinking out of its usual rut and down unusual paths. One of which led me to the intention of creating my first $10,000 client.
I’d never done this before. My highest paying client up to that point had been $3,000.
Each day I would say:
“What action can I take today to create $10,000?”
Whatever actions occurred to me, I would do. A few of them:
- I made a list of people my intuition said could help me.
- I reached out to those people.
- I brainstormed a list of ideas for making $10,000.
I created my first $10,000 offer.
(Actually, I think I created a few of them. One might have involved dragons and alternate realities, but that was just for fun and didn’t have anything to do with getting results, because fun doesn’t have anything to do with getting results, does it?)
But I digress. Back to my story…
At the time I had an email list of about 17,000 active subscribers. Most of them were small business owners who weren’t likely prospects for a $10,000 service, but a few were larger venues.
So I created an offer designed to meet the needs of these venues with a price tag of $10,000. It included coaching, competitive analysis, copywriting, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.
Then I shot out an email to the venue owners on my email list (about 400 people) inviting them to a conversation, and six people replied.
Within two weeks of asking, “What will it take to make $10,000 today?” I booked my first $10,000 client.
Pretty miraculous, eh?
I hadn’t thought about this for a while, but I told the story to a client yesterday.
“That’s amazing!” she said. “I want to be in that energy. I wish I knew I could make $10,000 like that!”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“But I didn’t know I could do it,” I said. “I didn’t know until I tried.”
If you were hoping for an article revealing the “proven magic formula” for creating a $10,000 client…this isn’t it.
Because there IS a formula, kind of, but it’s the ordinary magic kind.
Here’s the “secret-not-secret” to my success:
Step #1 – I set an intention to make $10,000 and focused on it.
Step #2 – I listened to my intuition and acted on the ideas that came to me.
Step #3 – I kept taking the next action that occurred to me until I got results.
That’s pretty much it.
Now, I had some things going in my favor. I had an email list with potential clients on it, and over 15 years of business experience, sales and people skills. Plus, a tolerance for risk and a taste for adventure.
It helped that my target was so audacious that I didn’t have much “thinking” about it. It seemed fairly impossible, so why not try?
(Hint: all other factors being equal, less thinking and more action = better results, most of the time, simply because we keep going.)
Another interesting fact:
After booking that $10,000 client, I stopped focusing on $10,000 clients and…I didn’t book any more. Surprise, surprise.
I’ve learned to enjoy attempting things that I don’t know I can do, but seem fun to try.
Like a 21 minute plank. (Nailed it, with some down dog breaks after 11 minutes in.)
Like 1,000 push ups in a day. (Rocked it! Took me over two hours, with lots of breaks.)
Like performing a rakugo story in Japanese on stage in Tokyo last April. (Nope. Damn COVID-19 but the kabash on that one.)
But the truth is:
You never know what’s possible until you try. And then you get to SEE.
We silly humans seem to think we can predict the future. We’re constantly spinning stories about the glories and the nightmares ahead, when we’re truly really shitty at reading the crystal ball.
Sometimes I think I can do things.
Sometimes I feel certain that I can’t.
But you’re a hell of a lot more likely to get results from TRYING SOMETHING than from doing nothing at all.
This is what I bring to my coaching and creating with people.
I love inspiration, big dreaming, reaching for the impossible and exploring bold new frontiers.
I’m also into taking little teeny, tiny actions that keep you moving forward.
Because I’ve learned the secret-not-secret:
If you keep moving in one direction long enough, step by step, you’ll make progress.
You don’t have to “believe in yourself” first to make it happen. You can even act with fear and trembling, and still get results. (Don’t call the Law of Attraction Police on me.)
There’s a lot less pressure if you simply show up and try. Curiosity has been my best friend in this regard.
And we’re likely to encounter lots of magic and synchronicities along the way, which adds extra zest to the adventure.
Desire, playing full-out with everything you’ve got, without attachment to the outcome. It’s the recipe for a fun life and a profitable business.
If you’re an experienced coach, healer or movement therapist who’s ready to create that big vision that’s going to change the world, I’d love to work with you one-on-one to clarify your focus, take the simple next action and do it with a sense of joy and fun. Contact me here for more details about coaching with me and we’ll explore the possibilities. 🙂
Yours in creative play,
Steph
